Linux_PAM-0.77

Introduction to Linux_PAM

Download location (HTTP):       http://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/libs/pam/pre/library/Linux-PAM-0.77.tar.bz2
Download location (FTP):        
Version used:                   0.77
Package size:                   332 KB
Estimated Disk space required:  4.1 MB

The Linux_PAM package contains Pluggable Authentication Modules. This is useful to enable the local system administrator to choose how applications authenticate users.

Linux_PAM will utilize:
cracklib

Installation of Linux_PAM

Install Linux_PAM by running the following commands:

./configure --enable-static-libpam --with-mailspool=/var/mail \
--enable-read-both-confs --sysconfdir=/etc &&
make &&
make install &&
mv /lib/libpam.a /lib/libpam_misc.a /lib/libpamc.a /usr/lib &&
ln -sf ../../lib/libpam.so.0.77 /usr/lib/libpam.so &&
ln -sf ../../lib/libpam_misc.so.0.77 /usr/lib/libpam_misc.so &&
ln -sf ../../lib/libpamc.so.0.77 /usr/lib/libpamc.so

Command explanations

--enable-static-libpam : This switch builds static PAM libraries as well as the dynamic libraries.

--with-mailspool=/var/mail : This switch makes the mailspool directory FHS compliant.

--enable-read-both-confs : This switch lets the local administrator choose which configuration file setup to use.

mv /lib/libpam.a /lib/libpam_misc.a /lib/libpamc.a /usr/lib : This command moves the static libraries to /usr/lib to comply with FHS.

Configuring Linux_PAM

Config files

/etc/pam.d or /etc/pam.conf

Configuration Information

Configuration information is placed in /etc/pam.d or /etc/pam.conf depending on the application that is using PAM. Below are example files of each type:

# Begin /etc/pam.d/other

auth            required        pam_unix.so     nullok
account         required        pam_unix.so
session         required        pam_unix.so
password        required        pam_unix.so     nullok

# End /etc/pam.d/other

# Begin /etc/pam.conf

other           auth            required        pam_unix.so     nullok
other           account         required        pam_unix.so
other           session         required        pam_unix.so
other           password        required        pam_unix.so     nullok

# End /etc/pam.conf

The pam man page provides a good starting point for descriptions of fields and allowable entries. The Linux-PAM guide for system administrators and two PAM hints located at http://hints.linuxfromscratch.org are also available for further reading.

Contents

The Linux_PAM package contains unix-chkpwd and libpam libraries.

Description

unix-chkpwd

No description available.

libpam libraries

libpam libraries provide the interfaces between applications and the PAM modules.